The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and solar) eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share a very similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node[1] with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses.
Lunar eclipses of Saros 109 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 0736 Jun 27. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 1998 Aug 08. The total duration of Saros series 109 is 1262.11 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = 0736 Jun 27 22:44:48 TD
Last Eclipse = 1998 Aug 08 02:25:57 TD
Duration of Saros 109 = 1262.11 Years
Saros 109 is composed of 71 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 109 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 71 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 15 | 21.1% |
| Partial | P | 39 | 54.9% |
| Total | T | 17 | 23.9% |
The 71 lunar eclipses in Saros 109 occur in the order of 8N 20P 17T 19P 7N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
20 Partial
17 Total
19 Partial
7 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 109 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1349 Jul 01 Duration = 01h39m45s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: 1529 Oct 17 Duration = 00h01m41s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1547 Oct 28 Duration = 03h04m09s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0880 Sep 22 Duration = 00h48m35s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 0862 Sep 12 Duration = 04h29m19s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: 1998 Aug 08 Duration = 01h36m25s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 109 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 1547 Oct 28 Magnitude = 0.9651
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: 0880 Sep 22 Magnitude = 0.0430
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 109 are presented in the following catalog. For eclipses occurring between the years -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), the sequence number in the first column links to a eclipse geometry diagram and a map from Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
01 -34 0736 Jun 27 22:44:48 3471 -15628 N t- -1.4922 0.1422 -0.9019 112.6 - -
02 -33 0754 Jul 09 05:26:24 3316 -15405 N t- -1.4101 0.2919 -0.7505 158.6 - -
03 -32 0772 Jul 19 12:13:23 3164 -15182 N t- -1.3311 0.4363 -0.6048 190.7 - -
04 -31 0790 Jul 30 19:07:33 3015 -14959 N t- -1.2566 0.5725 -0.4677 215.0 - -
05 -30 0808 Aug 10 02:09:44 2869 -14736 N t- -1.1873 0.6994 -0.3402 233.9 - -
06 -29 0826 Aug 21 09:21:41 2727 -14513 N t- -1.1250 0.8134 -0.2259 248.6 - -
07 -28 0844 Aug 31 16:41:53 2588 -14290 N h- -1.0684 0.9173 -0.1220 260.4 - -
08 -27 0862 Sep 12 00:13:30 2453 -14067 Nx h- -1.0201 1.0059 -0.0333 269.3 - -
09 -26 0880 Sep 22 07:54:42 2322 -13844 P a- -0.9785 1.0823 0.0430 276.2 48.6 -
10 -25 0898 Oct 03 15:47:13 2195 -13621 P a- -0.9452 1.1433 0.1041 281.2 74.7 -
11 -24 0916 Oct 13 23:48:01 2072 -13398 P a- -0.9178 1.1935 0.1546 284.8 90.1 -
12 -23 0934 Oct 25 07:58:55 1953 -13175 P a- -0.8978 1.2298 0.1915 287.0 99.4 -
13 -22 0952 Nov 04 16:16:46 1839 -12952 P a- -0.8826 1.2573 0.2199 288.4 105.8 -
14 -21 0970 Nov 16 00:41:26 1730 -12729 P a- -0.8722 1.2758 0.2397 289.0 109.8 -
15 -20 0988 Nov 26 09:10:40 1625 -12506 P a- -0.8647 1.2885 0.2543 289.0 112.5 -
16 -19 1006 Dec 07 17:43:42 1524 -12283 P a- -0.8595 1.2968 0.2651 288.6 114.4 -
17 -18 1024 Dec 18 02:18:03 1429 -12060 P a- -0.8549 1.3037 0.2750 288.1 116.0 -
18 -17 1042 Dec 29 10:51:45 1338 -11837 P a- -0.8490 1.3126 0.2877 287.7 118.1 -
19 -16 1061 Jan 08 19:24:07 1251 -11614 P a- -0.8414 1.3246 0.3038 287.5 120.7 -
20 -15 1079 Jan 20 03:53:25 1169 -11391 P a- -0.8304 1.3424 0.3263 287.7 124.4 -
21 -14 1097 Jan 30 12:17:27 1092 -11168 P a- -0.8144 1.3691 0.3581 288.5 129.3 -
22 -13 1115 Feb 10 20:36:02 1018 -10945 P a- -0.7934 1.4049 0.3994 289.9 135.4 -
23 -12 1133 Feb 21 04:48:14 950 -10722 P a- -0.7663 1.4517 0.4520 291.8 142.5 -
24 -11 1151 Mar 04 12:54:24 885 -10499 P a- -0.7334 1.5091 0.5151 294.3 150.2 -
25 -10 1169 Mar 14 20:52:04 824 -10276 P a- -0.6927 1.5808 0.5927 297.4 158.8 -
26 -09 1187 Mar 26 04:44:00 767 -10053 P a- -0.6465 1.6627 0.6803 300.7 167.3 -
27 -08 1205 Apr 05 12:28:31 714 -9830 P a- -0.5935 1.7572 0.7804 304.2 175.8 -
28 -07 1223 Apr 16 20:07:47 664 -9607 P a- -0.5354 1.8613 0.8897 307.7 183.8 -
29 -06 1241 Apr 27 03:40:38 618 -9384 T a- -0.4710 1.9770 1.0102 311.1 191.2 15.3
30 -05 1259 May 08 11:10:18 574 -9161 T a- -0.4034 2.0988 1.1365 314.1 197.6 53.8
31 -04 1277 May 18 18:36:13 534 -8938 T a- -0.3321 2.2277 1.2691 316.6 203.1 72.3
32 -03 1295 May 30 01:59:34 496 -8715 T- p- -0.2580 2.3620 1.4067 318.6 207.4 84.6
33 -02 1313 Jun 09 09:22:06 460 -8492 T- p- -0.1828 2.4987 1.5459 319.9 210.5 92.7
34 -01 1331 Jun 20 16:44:34 427 -8269 T- pp -0.1072 2.6363 1.6856 320.6 212.4 97.6
35 00 1349 Jul 01 00:09:20 396 -8046 T- pp -0.0330 2.7719 1.8225 320.6 213.1 99.8
36 01 1367 Jul 12 07:35:23 366 -7823 T+ pp 0.0404 2.7579 1.8092 319.9 212.7 99.5
37 02 1385 Jul 22 15:06:49 339 -7600 T+ pp 0.1096 2.6310 1.6824 318.7 211.3 97.1
38 03 1403 Aug 02 22:42:18 313 -7377 T+ -p 0.1755 2.5103 1.5612 317.1 209.1 92.7
39 04 1421 Aug 13 06:24:23 288 -7154 T+ -p 0.2363 2.3993 1.4492 315.1 206.2 86.6
40 05 1439 Aug 24 14:12:06 265 -6931 T -p 0.2925 2.2968 1.3451 312.9 202.9 78.7
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
41 06 1457 Sep 03 22:08:21 243 -6708 T -p 0.3420 2.2069 1.2534 310.6 199.3 69.5
42 07 1475 Sep 15 06:11:44 222 -6485 T -p 0.3855 2.1282 1.1726 308.5 195.7 58.8
43 08 1493 Sep 25 14:23:01 202 -6262 T -p 0.4226 2.0613 1.1033 306.4 192.2 46.4
44 09 1511 Oct 06 22:42:06 184 -6039 T -a 0.4533 2.0061 1.0457 304.7 189.0 31.4
45 10 1529 Oct 17 07:09:32 167 -5816 T -a 0.4775 1.9630 1.0001 303.3 186.3 1.7
46 11 1547 Oct 28 15:43:40 152 -5593 P -a 0.4960 1.9303 0.9651 302.2 184.2 -
47 12 1565 Nov 08 00:23:49 138 -5370 P -a 0.5096 1.9065 0.9391 301.4 182.5 -
48 13 1583 Nov 29 09:08:53 127 -5147 P -a 0.5191 1.8900 0.9208 301.0 181.3 -
49 14 1601 Dec 09 17:58:33 116 -4924 P -a 0.5249 1.8800 0.9092 300.8 180.6 -
50 15 1619 Dec 21 02:49:28 94 -4701 P -a 0.5298 1.8716 0.8997 300.7 180.0 -
51 16 1637 Dec 31 11:42:25 67 -4478 P -a 0.5331 1.8660 0.8934 300.7 179.7 -
52 17 1656 Jan 11 20:33:34 40 -4255 P -a 0.5380 1.8571 0.8843 300.5 179.2 -
53 18 1674 Jan 22 05:23:56 19 -4032 P -a 0.5433 1.8472 0.8745 300.4 178.6 -
54 19 1692 Feb 02 14:08:39 8 -3809 P -a 0.5536 1.8281 0.8560 299.8 177.5 -
55 20 1710 Feb 13 22:50:15 9 -3586 P -a 0.5663 1.8043 0.8330 299.1 176.0 -
56 21 1728 Feb 25 07:24:24 10 -3363 P -a 0.5855 1.7687 0.7984 297.8 173.5 -
57 22 1746 Mar 07 15:52:17 12 -3140 P -a 0.6096 1.7239 0.7548 296.0 170.2 -
58 23 1764 Mar 18 00:11:05 15 -2917 P -a 0.6410 1.6655 0.6976 293.5 165.5 -
59 24 1782 Mar 29 08:23:07 17 -2694 P -a 0.6778 1.5974 0.6307 290.3 159.4 -
60 25 1800 Apr 09 16:26:01 13 -2471 P -a 0.7221 1.5157 0.5500 286.0 151.0 -
61 26 1818 Apr 21 00:20:29 12 -2248 P -a 0.7728 1.4222 0.4572 280.7 140.0 -
62 27 1836 May 01 08:06:48 5 -2025 P -a 0.8299 1.3173 0.3528 274.0 125.2 -
63 28 1854 May 12 15:46:09 7 -1802 P -a 0.8919 1.2035 0.2389 266.0 105.0 -
64 29 1872 May 22 23:18:24 -1 -1579 P -a 0.9592 1.0801 0.1151 256.1 74.3 -
65 30 1890 Jun 03 06:44:42 -6 -1356 N -a 1.0309 0.9492 -0.0168 244.1 - -
66 31 1908 Jun 14 14:06:32 8 -1133 N -a 1.1053 0.8135 -0.1541 229.9 - -
67 32 1926 Jun 25 21:25:07 24 -910 N -a 1.1814 0.6749 -0.2948 213.1 - -
68 33 1944 Jul 06 04:40:01 27 -687 N -a 1.2596 0.5328 -0.4398 192.7 - -
69 34 1962 Jul 17 11:54:49 34 -464 N -a 1.3370 0.3924 -0.5835 168.3 - -
70 35 1980 Jul 27 19:08:59 51 -241 N -a 1.4138 0.2535 -0.7264 137.5 - -
71 36 1998 Aug 08 02:25:57 63 -18 N -a 1.4875 0.1206 -0.8637 96.4 - -
[1] The Moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. The points where the lunar orbit intersects the plane of Earth's orbit are known as the nodes. The Moon moves from south to north of Earth's orbit at the ascending node, and from north to south at the descending node.
[2]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadow.
The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates. The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions ). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..
The coordinates of the Sun used in these predictions are based on the VSOP87 theory [Bretagnon and Francou, 1988]. The Moon's coordinates are based on the ELP-2000/82 theory [Chapront-Touze and Chapront, 1983]. For more information, see: Solar and Lunar Ephemerides. The revised value used for the Moon's secular acceleration is n-dot = -25.858 arc-sec/cy*cy, as deduced from the Apollo lunar laser ranging experiment (Chapront, Chapront-Touze, and Francou, 2002).
The largest uncertainty in the eclipse predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is determined as follows:
A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -1999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.
The Besselian elements used in the predictions were kindly provided by Jean Meeus. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Some of the information presented on this web site is based on data originally published in Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)"
